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goldplata · Jan 29, 2003, 11:19 AM

Hi!,
I have a G3/300 BW. I use it only for multimedia purposes, as it is connected to a projector at a resolution of 800x600.
I want to watch divx movies, see my photos with iphoto(hope iphoto 2 comes out soon...!) and watch DVD�s.
I have to use OSX because of iphoto. Now I have 128 MB RAM.
How can I speed up the computer? I ordered aditional 256 MB Ram and a Radeon 7000.
The question is if the Rage 128 decodes DVD via Hardware also in OSX? Is there a way to decode it via my new Radeon 7000?
Is the RAM I have installed enough?

nemanirc · Jan 29, 2003, 11:51 AM

I have the same box, and this is what I have done:

896 MB RAM (3 256 MB and 1 128 MB chips)
G4 500 MHz (bought from Other World Computing)
DVD-R SuperDrive (DVR-04 model, same as in last generation PowerMac G4)
ATI Radeon 7000
60 GB and 80 GB Hard drives running on a Sonnet ATA66 card (couldn't get my ATA133 card to work)

I still want to replace it with a new PM G4, but am having a hard time right now justifying the cost versus investment in the G3. That list above reflects about $1050 in upgrades beyond the original $1600 I spent in 1999 to buy the original G3. And, it does not include the G3 450 MHz processor or the Sony CD-RW that have been replaced for another $400.

kentuckyfried · Jan 29, 2003, 01:57 PM

^ Why do you guys stick with this machine?

My friend keeps telling me to sell it on ebay and just get a quicksilver G4, but I love the B&W's classic appearance and never want to part with it.

Just shelled out for the Radeon 7000 and 256 MB of more memory last night.

drHo · Jan 29, 2003, 05:23 PM

yeah i too still stick to this machine. here is what i got:
B&W G3 450mhz (o'clocked to 500mhz)
1024 Ram
40gb 7200 Drive (OSX)
12gb 5400 stock (OS 9)
ORIGINAL Radeon Mac Edtion PCI
SCSI Card
Que FW Burner
I use this sucks everyday for almost 4 years now. Not a problem, can still runs all the newest software, maybe except the newer games and CPU intensive apps like FCP etc. Dude ram is cheap! fill her up!and the Radeon 7000 is not a better card than the Original Radeon, check ATI's website and many benchmark test in xlr8yourmac.com for prove. Its basically a watered down version of the Original Radeon PCI. You could also get yourself a G4 ZIF upgrade..i think the best one they make is 550mhz..not bad considering you can overclock it to 650mhz safely. yeah people tell me to sell it too and buy a new G4 but i'm not really liking what i'm seeing the powermac line right now. when these B&W came out in 1999 they were on par with PC's of the time. Now? hell we get destroyed in the hardware end by dirty PC's!!So sorry apple you gonna have to at least close the gap in performance for me to shell out another $2000+ for a new mac. With a new G4 ZIF this B&W should last another year to year and a half.

goldplata · Jan 29, 2003, 05:39 PM

The problem really is the OSX! I always said that the G3/300 is enough to work and do simple things with it. When I swich to OS 9 the sensetion still is that the machine rocks!
My intention is to use my G3 as a Home Theater Computer. Simply to use the old computer. My intention is to buy an Imac for the rest of things.

kentuckyfried · Jan 29, 2003, 05:50 PM

LOL...you're like me. I am getting another 128 MB of ram from my friend on top of the 256 to make 640 MB, we'll see how that goes.

If I get desperate for a performance boost I'll get that Sonnet accelerator card, even if it still costs more than getting a quicksilver.

If I'm gonna get a new machine, I want a 970-powered machine.

Are you referencing xlr8yourmac.com for all the over-clocking? We tried it once at my friend's house and the computer stopped working, so I haven't tried since. Might be worth a shot again since I just lost one of my hd's about 2 weeks ago and all the data, so I'm on a clean slate.

Originally posted by drHo:
yeah i too still stick to this machine. here is what i got:
B&W G3 450mhz (o'clocked to 500mhz)
1024 Ram
40gb 7200 Drive (OSX)
12gb 5400 stock (OS 9)
ORIGINAL Radeon Mac Edtion PCI
SCSI Card
Que FW Burner
I use this sucks everyday for almost 4 years now. Not a problem, can still runs all the newest software, maybe except the newer games and CPU intensive apps like FCP etc. Dude ram is cheap! fill her up!and the Radeon 7000 is not a better card than the Original Radeon, check ATI's website and many benchmark test in xlr8yourmac.com for prove. Its basically a watered down version of the Original Radeon PCI. You could also get yourself a G4 ZIF upgrade..i think the best one they make is 550mhz..not bad considering you can overclock it to 650mhz safely. yeah people tell me to sell it too and buy a new G4 but i'm not really liking what i'm seeing the powermac line right now. when these B&W came out in 1999 they were on par with PC's of the time. Now? hell we get destroyed in the hardware end by dirty PC's!!So sorry apple you gonna have to at least close the gap in performance for me to shell out another $2000+ for a new mac. With a new G4 ZIF this B&W should last another year to year and a half.

RealMadrid · Jan 30, 2003, 02:20 AM

Test the diferences of the various graphics cards with this app:

http://www.psychosis.net/~justin/QuartzExtreme.app.sit

Regards

D'Espice · Jan 30, 2003, 07:10 AM

Originally posted by RealMadrid:
Test the diferences of the various graphics cards with this app:

http://www.psychosis.net/~justin/QuartzExtreme.app.sit

Regards

Wow, thanks for that app. I've been looking for that since the Power of X presentation.

drHo · Jan 30, 2003, 09:02 PM

Originally posted by kentuckyfried:
LOL...you're like me. I am getting another 128 MB of ram from my friend on top of the 256 to make 640 MB, we'll see how that goes.

If I get desperate for a performance boost I'll get that Sonnet accelerator card, even if it still costs more than getting a quicksilver.

If I'm gonna get a new machine, I want a 970-powered machine.

Are you referencing xlr8yourmac.com for all the over-clocking? We tried it once at my friend's house and the computer stopped working, so I haven't tried since. Might be worth a shot again since I just lost one of my hd's about 2 weeks ago and all the data, so I'm on a clean slate.

yeah i've checked xlr8yourmac.com for overclocking stuff...at first 500mhz dint go to well..then i tried to go back to 450 and that wouldnt boot...pissed me off...i had to bring it down to 350...i was there for a about 1 month then just for kicks i tried 450 again..bang! it booted up..then just for the hell of it went for 500..and also it works..been at it for a while now and its alright..i mean it was free!!

i want to try 550mhz but i dont know were to buy the jumpers!!! :-( checked Fry's-too small, RadioShack-too big..dunno...from reading in xlr8yourmac.com a 350 works better at 450, and a 300 works better at 400...so since mine is 450mhz stock it should perform better and be more stable at 550mhz..although i havent had crashes since going to 500mhz..hope i dont fry my chip

hopefully by the time i'm done messing around with my g3 the 970's will be out and i could finally buy me a new powermac.

kentuckyfried · Jan 30, 2003, 11:55 PM

^ OK, thanks.

I don't have a huge need for speed, but I kind of get irritated sometimes by the slugishness of my 400 mhz B&W under OS X....when you click on a directory with lots of files, it's pretty damn painful. lol.

Hash · Jan 31, 2003, 12:17 AM

Its not the hardware fault; it happens even on much faster machines; i was told its OS X Finder fault (that it cant work fast windows containing more than few hundred files). Dont know if they have improved it.

As for me, my BW still rocks, even in OS X. It has 640 MB ram, Radeon 7000, Powerlogix G4 550 (overclocked to 650)Mhz, Combo drive inside, 3 hard drives and absolutely great. Any newer Apple hardware just is not good enough to justify replacing it.

goldplata · Jan 31, 2003, 05:28 AM

I just got my 256 Dimm. So I have a total of 384 MB. My question is if it worth it to increase even more the memory? Will I see improvement? probably an additional 256 or even 512 Dimm?? I don�t want to spend the money if it doesn�t improve the speed.
Have someone of you activated the Quarz Extreme on your Radeon 7000?
THANK YOU

Hash · Jan 31, 2003, 07:10 AM

I am not sure if the BW will recognize 512 chip. Yes, more memory will benefit you both in OS 9 and X. I enabled Quarz Extreme through hack, but found it useless. Some say that your QuickTime encoding will be affected. I decided I wont need Quartz Extreme and i have no regrets

kentuckyfried · Jan 31, 2003, 11:51 AM

Yeah...I've dumped in that extra 128 dimm into the machine without a noticeable difference in performance, that's why I have been wary of putting in more. My friend constantly urges me to dump in as much possible, I just caved in for another 256 (for a total of 512) since I had to order the radeon 7000 anyhow to enable the 20" flat panel I will be receiving to work with the g3. We'll see how it goes.

Originally posted by goldplata:
I just got my 256 Dimm. So I have a total of 384 MB. My question is if it worth it to increase even more the memory? Will I see improvement? probably an additional 256 or even 512 Dimm?? I don�t want to spend the money if it doesn�t improve the speed.
Have someone of you activated the Quarz Extreme on your Radeon 7000?
THANK YOU

kentuckyfried · Jan 31, 2003, 11:54 AM

I like my g3 aside from the folder thing I mentioned, thanks for the clarification. I don't do anything high end at this time anyhow.

will tons more memory help that folder problem? it's kind of bad if you're manipulating lots of folders (I was trying to sort 100's of mp3's), and you're sitting there, watching the rainbow colored wheel of death spin around for what seems like, 5-8 seconds at a time, back and forth every couple of minutes.

Originally posted by Hash:
Its not the hardware fault; it happens even on much faster machines; i was told its OS X Finder fault (that it cant work fast windows containing more than few hundred files). Dont know if they have improved it.

As for me, my BW still rocks, even in OS X. It has 640 MB ram, Radeon 7000, Powerlogix G4 550 (overclocked to 650)Mhz, Combo drive inside, 3 hard drives and absolutely great. Any newer Apple hardware just is not good enough to justify replacing it.

hardcat1970 · Jan 31, 2003, 12:18 PM

Originally posted by kentuckyfried:
I like my g3 aside from the folder thing I mentioned, thanks for the clarification. I don't do anything high end at this time anyhow.

will tons more memory help that folder problem? it's kind of bad if you're manipulating lots of folders (I was trying to sort 100's of mp3's), and you're sitting there, watching the rainbow colored wheel of death spin around for what seems like, 5-8 seconds at a time, back and forth every couple of minutes.

can you put a 20" acd to b/w g3 and radeon 7000? I read apple specs and they say you will need certain graphic cards which is only for AGP. My local sales representative told me that the 23" will work with radeon 7000. However I went out and bought a 17" for a safe bet and it's what i could afford.

goldplata · Jan 31, 2003, 01:45 PM

Now I heve my new 256 dimm in my hand, I installed it and Now I saw 384 MB. The Computer begun to freeze every minute. I had to restart every time. The I took out the memory module and it begun to operate correctly.
What kind of memory do I need???
Thanks

tooki · Jan 31, 2003, 02:34 PM

All Apple flat panels (including all Studio and Cinema displays) will work with a Radeon 7000. Apple says so on the DVI-ADC adapter site.

OS X does not use the blue G3's hardware decoder for DVDs. I have double-checked this by removing the DVD decoder daughtercard. OS X plays DVDs in software, always. (It does use the ATI card's scalers to accelerate screen drawing, though. But Rage 128 and better [as well as many older ATIs] all have this feature.)

Don't bother using Quartz Extreme on PCI. The PCI bus ends up hobbling QE, so you don't gain any speed, and in fact sometimes are slowed down.

Blue G3s do not support 512MB DIMMs. They are seen as 256MB modules.

tooki

tooki · Jan 31, 2003, 02:37 PM

Originally posted by goldplata:
Now I heve my new 256 dimm in my hand, I installed it and Now I saw 384 MB. The Computer begun to freeze every minute. I had to restart every time. The I took out the memory module and it begun to operate correctly.
What kind of memory do I need???
Thanks

Your G3 needs PC100 RAM (most PC133 works, too). It should be non-parity, unbuffered SDRAM (which is the normal stuff... anything else will be more expensive, and marked specially).

You either have a PC66 module (which is too slow for the blue G3), or a proper module that is faulty.

tooki

goldplata · Feb 1, 2003, 02:53 AM

Yes it must be faulty. It states PC100 on it. Probably my dealer tryed to sell me an old one.
Is there a Hardware test, so I can chech that the memory is faulty?? I remember there was a memory test at startup in OS 9. Is that true?

RealMadrid · Feb 3, 2003, 02:28 AM

Start up in OS 9 ;-)

Hash · Feb 3, 2003, 04:56 AM

I am not sure that more memory will resolve the folder problem, because i think, its software related; but with more memory both OS X and OS 9 will be faster, you will have less memory related freezes and so on. There is memory check utilities out there, DimmFirstAid and some older one, sorry dont remember. DimmFirstAid is quite good.

goldplata · Feb 6, 2003, 10:44 AM

Has someone hered that the larder modules have to be placed in first place?